Published stop and search

Stop and search statistics

Published stop and search records from data.police.uk, summarised for the selected period and police force. This is a count of published records, not a judgement of whether searches were justified.

July 2015 to August 2026

43282

Stop and search records

9463

Searches with a recorded find

21.9%

Recorded find rate

Police forces in view

What this page shows and how these figures are calculated

What this page shows

This page summarises the stop and search records currently loaded into CrimeMapsUK for the selected time period and police-force filter.

Coverage period: July 2015 to August 2026
Months included: 81
Police force filter: Avon And Somerset
Latest loaded month: August 2026

A recorded find is derived from the published stop and search outcome labels held in this dataset. It does not show whether a search was justified, proportionate, or effective. Unless you change the filters, the default view is the latest loaded month.

Read the methodology. Related: How to use the dashboards, FAQ, What is a stop and search record?.

How these figures are calculated

Stop and search records: All loaded stop and search records in the selected time period and police-force filter.
Searches with a recorded find: Records marked by this dataset as having a find based on the published stop and search outcome.
Recorded find rate: The share of loaded stop and search records treated as a recorded find in this dataset. It does not show whether a search was justified.
Police forces in view: The number of police forces represented after the current filters are applied.

Filters

Choose a month range and optional police force. The page defaults to the latest loaded month.

From year

From month

To year

To month

Police force

Demographic breakdown

Age group distribution

View data table

Age group	Records	Searches with a recorded find	Recorded find rate
10-17	7992	1459	18.3%
18-24	12006	3028	25.2%
25-34	9659	2327	24.1%
over 34	10904	2518	23.1%
Unknown	2647	128	4.8%
under 10	74	3	4.1%

Gender split

View data table

Gender	Records	Searches with a recorded find	Recorded find rate
Unknown	1907	122	6.4%
Male	35472	8259	23.3%
Female	5903	1082	18.3%

By police force

Recorded find rate by police force

View data table

Police force	Records	Searches with a recorded find	Recorded find rate
Avon And Somerset	43282	9463	21.9%

Search powers and legislation

Recorded find rate by search type

View data table

Search type	Records	Searches with a recorded find	Recorded find rate
Person and Vehicle search	8997	2603	28.9%
Person search	33289	6804	20.4%
Vehicle search	996	56	5.6%

Top legislation used

Chart labels use short legislation names; hover or open the table for the full wording.

View data table

Legislation	Records	Searches with a recorded find	Recorded find rate
Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (section 23)	24094	6058	25.1%
Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (section 1)	16377	3295	20.1%
Unknown	2318	14	0.6%
Firearms Act 1968 (section 47)	374	75	20.1%
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (section 60)	59	6	10.2%
Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 (s36(2))	51	15	29.4%
Criminal Justice Act 1988 (section 139B)	2	0	0.0%
Poaching Prevention Act 1862 (section 2)	2	0	0.0%
Aviation Security Act 1982 (section 27(1))	1	0	0.0%
Deer Act 1991 (section 12)	1	0	0.0%
Conservation of Seals Act 1970 (section 4)	1	0	0.0%
Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (section 163)	1	0	0.0%
Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 (s38(2))	1	0	0.0%

Legislation outcome tables

Drugs Act 1971 s.23

Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (section 23)

Outcome	Count
A no further action disposal	11873
Arrest	3992
Nothing found - no further action	2868
Khat or Cannabis warning	1349
Community resolution	1108

PACE 1984 s.1

Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (section 1)

Outcome	Count
A no further action disposal	9665
Arrest	2964
Nothing found - no further action	1534
Unknown	705
Community resolution	671

Unknown

Outcome	Count
Unknown	2115
Nothing found - no further action	72
A no further action disposal	59
Suspect arrested	34
Arrest	12

Firearms Act 1968 s.47

Firearms Act 1968 (section 47)

Outcome	Count
A no further action disposal	232
Arrest	66
Nothing found - no further action	39
Unknown	16
Community resolution	14

CJPOA 1994 s.60

Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (section 60)

Outcome	Count
A no further action disposal	43
Nothing found - no further action	5
Community resolution	4
Khat or Cannabis warning	4
Arrest	2

Published outcomes

Outcome distribution

View data table

Published outcome	Records
A no further action disposal	21900
Arrest	7043
Nothing found - no further action	4520
Unknown	3773
Community resolution	1814
Khat or Cannabis warning	1510
Suspect arrested	621
Offender given drugs possession warning	605
Local resolution	536
Summons / charged by post	495
Caution (simple or conditional)	147
Suspect summonsed to court	132
Article found - Detailed outcome unavailable	102
Offender cautioned	43
Offender given penalty notice	29
Penalty Notice for Disorder	12

Search objects (top 10)

View data table

Search object	Records	Searches with a recorded find	Recorded find rate
Controlled drugs	23611	5899	25.0%
Offensive weapons	6572	1352	20.6%
Stolen goods	3789	775	20.5%
Article for use in theft	3418	718	21.0%
Unknown	3111	123	4.0%
Articles for use in criminal damage	1239	239	19.3%
Evidence of offences under the Act	547	156	28.5%
Anything to threaten or harm anyone	413	89	21.5%
Firearms	395	75	19.0%
Fireworks	73	7	9.6%

Data quality statement: Data sourced from data.police.uk under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Outcome labels come from the published police data source and may change as records are updated. Find rates are descriptive summaries of the selected records and should not be treated as a direct measure of policing quality.